Swiss Assume Burden of Gurlitt Hoard

As expected, the Kunstmuseum Bern announced today that it would accept the responsibility of vetting the Gurlitt Hoard:

Christoph Schäublin, president of the board of trustees of the institution, the Kunstmuseum Bern, or Museum of Fine Arts Bern, said he did not expect a last-minute attempt by a cousin of Cornelius Gurlitt, who bequeathed the collection, to prevent the museum from accepting it.

Mr. Schäublin said the decision, reached on Saturday, was “anything but easy” because of the origin of the collection. But he said the museum would seek to set a new standard in handling Nazi-looted art, by having a privately funded team of experts comb the history of each piece before it came into the museum’s possession.

Mr. Schäublin said a complete list of the artworks collected by Mr. Gurlitt would be made public, possibly as soon as Tuesday. That is intended to make it easier for potential claimants of looted art to come forward. An agreement reached between the museum, the German government and the state of Bavaria pledged to handle the collection with a high level of transparency